This invention relates to portable electronic instruments for personal use and, in particular, to so-called Personal Emergency Response Systems.
It is known that certain people are particularly vulnerable to attack or seizure such as, for example, the elderly and infirm. To this end, it is also known to provide such people with panic alarm devices so that at the onset of an attack, in whatever form that might be, or even in the event of imminent risk thereof, the panic alarm device may be manually operated so as call for help in time of need and inform a central monitoring unit. Upon receipt of a panic signal, the central monitoring unit may then take appropriate action. Panic alarm devices are, therefore, an important component in the arsenal of those who are vulnerable, thereby providing them with greater security and self-confidence.
Typically, such panic alarms include a manually operated r.f. transmitter energized by a miniature hearing-aid type battery and which, when operated, sends an encoded signal characteristic of the user. By such means, a remote monitoring unit, upon receiving the encoded signal, knows from where the signal emanated. Most simply, the coding can be by way of modulating an r.f. signal with data representative of the user""s personal code so that the received signal is indicative of the sender. A problem associated with such devices is their accessibility. It clearly defeats the whole object of the device if, at a moment of panic, the device is not readily accessible for actuation and precious time must be wasted in locating it. To this end, such devices are commonly worn as a pendant around the owner""s neck, which is liable to be both obtrusive and cumbersome.
It has also been proposed to provide such panic alarms in a wrist-mounted casing including a conventional watch movement, so that the device can double as both a conventional watch and a panic alarm. By such means, the same device serves two functions, thereby increasing its convenience and rendering the panic alarm function completely unobtrusive. In such a device, communication with the remote monitoring unit is effected via the telephone line and, to this end, there must be provided a base unit connected to the telephone line for effecting wireless communication with the portable device. This is acceptable when the patient is house-bound but is obviously unsuitable for those patients who are generally free to live normal lives but must nevertheless have ready access to the remote monitoring unit in case of emergency.
Upon effecting communication with the monitoring unit, a patient is frequently required to undertake an interactive dialog with medical personnel at the monitoring unit so as to enable the medical personnel to diagnose the patient""s medical symptoms. Since many of those who are particularly at risk suffer from heart-disease, an ECG is usually one of the first tests which should be carried out. To this end, much effort has been directed to the provision of portable instruments for allowing a patient to carry out an ECG on himself. At their most rudimentary, such instruments comprises a pair of electrodes which are held against a patient""s body, usually near his chest to detect an electrical voltage indicative of the electrical activity of the heart. The resulting current waveform response permits partial determination of the patient""s cardiac health. A more detailed determination may be realized by using more than two electrodes and portable devices are known having, for example, twelve electrodes mounted on a common carrier and amenable to placement on a patient""s chest area by the patient with minimum effort.
It will be appreciated that no less important than the technical suitability of such ECG transmitters, is that they must be instantly accessible in a moment of crisis. In the first instance, the required accessibility can only be realized by a portable device. However, experience indicates that this in itself is often not enough. Most people find it difficult to function and to preserve their mental health if they live in constant fear of their mortality. Particularly, those who have a history of heart disease or other serious illness can do without constant remainders that they might need to perform an instant ECG in the street or elsewhere remote from hospital or home. As a result, there are many who consign the thought to their sub-conscious and it is then but a small step to relegating it to their unconscious altogether.
Such a likelihood would be reduced if the ECG transmitter were not only portable but were so disguised as to be indistinguishable from an everyday item which, in any case, the patient would carry on his or her person. However, the prior art does not seem even to have addressed the problem associated with the almost wanton forgetfulness by the infirm, let alone propose a solution thereto.
This problem is solved in accordance with a broad aspect of the invention by means of an emergency signaling or diagnostic device integrally embedded within a wallet for signaling a health condition of an owner of the device.
According to a preferred embodiment, the emergency signaling or diagnostic device is an ECG transmitter having at least two electrodes sewn or otherwise fixed to a surface of the wallet and having controls accessible from inside the wallet. Such a wallet is provided with pockets for accommodating therein cash, credit cards and so on in known manner so that the patient who carries it is psychologically immune from the uncomfortable thought that anything medical is associated therewith.
In order to allow the patient to relay the ECG signal to a remote monitoring unit, a vocalizing unit may be provided for converting the ECG signal to a representative acoustic signal which can be sent over the telephone to the monitoring unit. Alternatively, the ECG signal may be modulated on to an r.f. carrier signal for direct transmission with the monitoring unit, thus not requiring that the patient be in ready access with a telephone.